Notre Dame men’s soccer picked up their second win of non-conference play on Friday night, collecting a 6-1 victory to take care of Chicago State at Alumni Stadium.
The Irish, who entered the 2024 campaign ranked second nationally by United Soccer Coaches after a national runner-up finish a year ago, have struggled to find wins thus far in the young season. Entering Friday night’s tilt with the now 1-6 Cougars, 1-1-3 Notre Dame’s lone win had occurred two weeks prior at Louisville to open ACC play.
Roou’s hat trick ignites Irish attack
The first real chance of the match came in the 10th minute when senior defender Kyle Genenbacher’s throw-in found the feet of junior midfielder KK Baffour, whose shot from six yards out went right into the lap of Chicago State netminder Lucas Fontana.
Just a few moments later, Cougar forward Hilary Odhiambo almost caught freshman keeper Blake Kelly off his line to open the scoring, but his shot from 35 yards out just clipped the top of the crossbar.
The Irish broke through on their second corner of the evening, as Baffour’s inswinging service found the head of Genenbacher before redirecting off a Cougar defender and into the bottom left corner. The goal was the senior defender’s second of the year, and Baffour picked up his second assist of the campaign after leading the squad with seven a year ago.
The Irish doubled the advantage just four minutes later when senior forward Matthew Roou tapped in a short cross from six yards out off a nice dime from junior midfielder Sebastian Green. The score was also Roou’s second of the season. The senior forward from Germantown, Wisconsin, whose 10 goals a year ago were the most of any Irish returner, hadn’t scored since slotting home a penalty on opening night against Akron.
After a barrage of Notre Dame chances in the following minutes, both attacks stalled until the final minute of the half, when an exquisite buildup saw Roou net his second of the match off quick assists from both Green and Baffour.
The Cougars got one back early after the intermission, when a free kick from the left foot of Bruno Baez was deflected off the post by Kelly before being cleaned up by Luka Assaf on the doorstep of the goal. A miraculous save from Kelly, who finished with three total, was all for naught as the Irish left the sophomore Frenchman unmarked in an uncharacteristic defensive breakdown.
The Irish advantage was sent back to three less than 50 seconds later, as Roou completed the hat trick from roughly 16 yards out, coming off the double assist from freshman midfielder Ian Shaul and senior midfielder Bryce Boneau.
Roou nearly added a fourth goal to his tally with a diving header a few minutes later, but it was sophomore forward Jack Flanagan who added the fifth Notre Dame goal of the night, beating Fontana through the five-hole in the 66th minute. The goal also marked Green’s third assist of the night after he had entered the match with none in his career.
Flanagan then completed his brace in the 78th minute, when he made no mistake off a pass from freshman midfielder Jacob Bartlett, who also picked up the first assist of his collegiate career. That 6-1 scoreline would hold, and the Irish picked up their first home win of the 2024 campaign.
Roou and Riley speak postgame
Roou addressed the importance of performing well in front of the Irish faithful postgame.
“We’ve had a lot of really good performances, we just haven’t been able to string results together. It’s good to put a lot of goals in the net and hopefully get us going into two home matches next week,” he said.
“We’ve been striving for consistency, and our performances have been good, and it was nice to finally have some goals to show for it today,” head coach Chad Riley said.
Riley also cited the recent differences in aggression in the attacking third.
“I think we were more aggressive in that final phase tonight, and that contributed to why we had some nice services and finishes tonight.”
What’s next
The Irish will be back in action this coming Tuesday, as they welcome the Titans of Detroit Mercy to Alumni Stadium. The Titans have struggled mightily as of late, failing to collect three points since a decisive, 5-1 road win at Eastern Illinois back on Aug. 26. Detroit Mercy also dropped a home match earlier in September to this same Chicago State squad.
Beyond Tuesday night’s contest, Riley’s bunch will have its hands full when the reigning national champions in No. 4 Clemson make the trip to South Bend on Friday night in what is a highly anticipated rematch of the 2023 College Cup National Championship.
Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. first touches at Alumni Stadium, with Tuesday’s tilt being aired on ACC Network Extra and Friday night’s game being broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
